NASDAQ Stock Market

The art of investments is based on the mathematical principle of doublings over time. While a typical business venture is happy to receive an ROI of 10% yearly, more aggressive returns are possible in the internet age, without incurring undue risk. NASDAQ offers a wealth of investing tutorials, and live streams of data. At a minimum, browse their stock screener and financial analysis pages. Below, find links directly to Nasdaq pages, offering updated interactive charts, volume trading, summary quotes, and IPO disclosures.

Career education near Boston, MA:

Take a few moments to browse colleges and universities near Boston. It's a good idea to compare
all schools in the area, as well as consider taking some of your classes online, to save on tuition fees. By continuing your education, you can improve your salary prospects or train for a more interesting position. Financial aid deadlines are typically scheduled well in advance of regular admission dates, so be sure to apply early. You may request free information from several different schools below, without making a commitment.

Balance Sheet

The accounting balance sheet is one of the major financial statements used by accountants and business
owners. The other major financial statements are the income statement, statement of cash flows, and
statement of stockholders' equity. The balance sheet presents a company's financial position at the end of
a specified date. Because the balance sheet informs the reader of a company's financial position, as well as
what it owes to other parties, this is valuable information.

Assets are the resources of the company, and have future economic value that can be measured in dollars. Assets commonly cover cash on hand, accounts receivable, buildings and equipment, but also include costs paid in advance such as prepaid advertising, prepaid insurance, prepaid legal fees, and prepaid rent. Examples of asset accounts that are reported on the balance sheet may include, but are not limited to:

Liabilities are obligations of the company, amounts owed to creditors for a past
transaction, or payables such as wages, rents, or taxes. Along with owner's equity,
liabilities can be thought of as a source of the company's assets, as well as a claim
against a company's assets. Liabilities may also include amounts received in advance for future services, reported as Unearned Revenues or Customer Deposits. Typical liabilities include the following:

A company's commitment to purchase goods may be legally binding, but is not considered a liability on the balance sheet until actual services or goods have been received. Commitments must be disclosed in the notes appending the balance sheet. Similarly, the leasing of an asset may appear to be a rental cost, but in substance it may involve an agreement to purchase the asset and finance it through monthly payments. Therefore, accountants must look past outward appearances, and focus on the substance of business transactions.

Contingent Liabilities include warranty of a company's products, the guarantee of another
party's loan, and lawsuits filed against a company. If the contingent loss is highly probable, and the amount of the loss can be estimated, the company needs to record a liability on its balance sheet and a loss on its income statement. However, if the contingent loss is only a remote possibility, no liability or loss is recorded and there is no need at that time to include the matter in notes to the financial statements.

Income Statement

The income statement is often referred to as a profit and loss statement (P&L), statement of
operations, or statement of income. The income statement is important because it shows the profitability
of a company during the time interval specified in its heading. The income statement shows revenues, expenses, gains, and losses, but it does not include cash receipts nor cash disbursements. This information is collected in a Statement of Cash Flows.

Revenues from primary activities are often referred to as operating revenues. The primary activities of a business are purchasing merchandise or raw materials and selling products, referred to as sales revenues or sales. The primary activities of a company that provides services involve selling expertise to clients. For companies providing services, the revenues from their primary services are referred to as service revenues or fees. It is common in business to extend a modest amount of time to repeat customers to pay for purchases. For example, if a retailer gives customers 30 days to pay, revenues occur (and are reported) when the merchandise is sold to the buyer, not when the cash is received 30 days later.

Non-operating Revenues are amounts a business earns outside of purchasing and selling goods and services. For example, when a retail business earns interest on some of its idle cash, or sells an commodity investment for a capital gain, these revenues result from an activity outside of buying and selling merchandise. As a result the revenues are reported on the income statement separate from its primary activity of sales or service income.

Expenses involved in primary activities are expenses that are incurred in order to earn normal operating revenues. Under the accrual basis of accounting, the cost of goods sold and expenses are matched to sales and the accounting period when they are used, not the period in which they are paid. Because of the cost principle and inflation, the expenses shown on the income statement reflect costs that may have different present values. An accountant, though, is not allowed the luxury of waiting until things are known with certainty, so in order to properly account for revenues when they are earned, and expenses when they are incurred, accountants must often use cost estimates.

Secondary Expenses are referred to as non-operating expenses. For example, interest expense is a non-operating expense because it involves the finance function of the business, rather than the
primary activities of buying, producing and selling merchandise. Losses such as the loss from the sale of long-term assets, or the loss on lawsuits result from a transaction that is outside of a business's primary activities. A loss is reported as the net of two amounts: the amount listed for the item on the company's books (book value) minus the proceeds received from the sale. A loss occurs when the proceeds are less than the original book value.

Net Income occurs when the net amount of revenues and gains minus expenses and losses is positive, the bottom line of the company's performance. If the net amount is negative, there is a net loss. A company's ability to operate profitably is paramount to both lenders and investors, company management, labor unions, and government regulators.

Liquidity Ratios: Acid Test

Liquidity ratios are used to help assess whether a business has sufficient cash or equivalent current assets
to be able to pay its debts as they fall due within the year. A business that finds that it does not have the
cash to settle its debts becomes insolvent. The formula for the acid test ratio is Current Assets minus
Inventory, divided by Liabilities. The reason is that not all assets can liquidated into cash at fair market
value. Notably, raw materials and large inventories of product must first be sold, and then cash collected
from debtor accounts.

The Acid Test Ratio, sometimes also called the Quick Ratio, adjusts the Current Ratio to eliminate those
current assets that are not already in cash form. An acid test ratio of over 1.0 is good news; the business is
well-placed to be able to pay its debts even if it cannot turn inventories into cash. Care has to be taken
when interpreting the acid test ratio. The value of inventory that a business needs to hold will vary
considerably. For example, you wouldn’t expect a law firm to carry inventory, but a major supermarket
carries a large dollar value of inventory at any given time.

Accounting Jobs - Listings

As the economy improves, many firms are beginning to hire accountants. The median entry level salary in public accounting is $59,000. After five years, you can expect to make somewhere between $70,000 to $85,000. Accounting salaries are higher on average in the private sector as compared to government jobs, and higher again if employed at the Big 4 accounting firms such as PWC,
E&Y, Deloitte and KPMG. Hiring managers typically post new jobs on targeted job sites at attract qualified applicants. Browse current job openings below by clicking on the type of position you'd like to pursue.

Accounting Department Rankings - Undergraduate

An Associate Degree can serve as a starting point for some entry-level accounting positions and as a basis
for earning a bachelor’s degree later on. By far, the most common accounting degree is a bachelor’s
degree, required for most accounting positions.

This website is not affiliated with any educational institution, and all trademarks are exclusive property of the respective owners. College Inspector is the work of a group of Thai students in Bangkok, using info from the US Department of Education, Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). If any stats are incorrect, please contact us with the right data.